Video Games Fuel Car Brand Attraction

Does driving a car in a video game make you more likely to purchase that vehicle in — what do you call it? Oh, yeah — the real world? According to a study conducted by the Financial Post, there is indeed a strong correlation.

Two sets of people were asked to participate in the study. One group drove cars in racing games like Project Gotham Racing and Gran Turismo, while the other group went in another room to watch the finely detailed pixels run around the screen.

The following survey showed that those who had driven the cars in the game were 50% more likely to want to purchase those vehicles than those who had simply watched.

While one study hardly constitutes an overwhelming body of scientific research, automakers certainly trust results like this; they are expected to pour around $1.8 billion into in-game advertising in the coming years.

Keep an eye on those Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution sales, because we want to know if this works, too.